Dear Haru
by Jackie Wepps
Summary: While on vacation Makoto sends a lot more letters and mails than he should, especially to his best friend Haru who is staying back in Japan. Here is a gathering of all send and received mails and letters. (Strong suggestions of none-sided RinHaru in future chapters)
1. Day 1

Dear Haru

I know I just saw you yesterday but I still think I should write letters starting now. You know I left for the airport a little past noon today. We left the airport in Tokyo and spent all afternoon on a plane. We landed in Denpasar at around 5 in the afternoon and were picked up by a driver who would take us to our hotel.

Here in Indonesia they are very kind people but some are a little different. When we arrived at the airport some guys just came and took all our luggage. My parents and I all believed they had been hired by the driver until we reached the car and they craved payment. No, they weren't hired by him. They were just earning money on carrying the luggage for tourists. I highly doubt we are the only ones who have fallen into this kind of trap.

We got a slight hint of worry when our driver could not find the ticket he needed to get us out of the airport. Fortunately he did manage to find it in time and we spend half an hour or so driving to Sanur where we will be staying the first couple of days.

Our driver dropped us off but at the wrong hotel. There were someone else who had booked a room for two here, and we are five. It took some time before it was discovered and then we were of course picked up and dropped off at the right hotel. They are on the same street, separated by about 500 – 600m or so. It is within walking distance, but the sidewalks are difficult to walk on, being covered by signs and sacrifices for Hindu gods and goddesses. There are also lots of uneven places along the way.

We got to the right hotel and got checked in. We then went out for dinner on a restaurant nearby. We tried out some of the traditional food. They eat a lot of rice here, but then again, so do we. The food culture doesn't appear to be much different from ours.

It is a bit warmer down here than back in Japan, despite it being winter. The air has a different sensation to it. It seems much thicker, like it is full of water. It is a bit uncomfortable for the time being, but I think I will adjust to it. It also smells a bit different down here. I cannot put my finger on how it is though.

At our stay there is at least one pool. Ren, Ran and I saw it on the way to our rooms, it is pretty small though. But I do think I heard my parents mention that there were three. There is also a bathtub in each room. We have two rooms, that means two bathtubs. It reminds me a bit of your bathroom, Haru.

Ren and Ran were arguing on who would share a room with me. They cannot really seem to agree on that. I ended up sharing with Ran though and Ren shares with our parents. Then I promised Ren I would share with him at the next hotel.

For now we will stay here in Sanur for three nights and three days. We leave here on Thursday and it is Monday today. I will send you a letter every day. Somewhat like a diary. I hope you do not mind that.

Oh, now Ran has fallen asleep with the light still on. I better rest up too. It has been a rough day today with all the traveling.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **HI EVERYONE!**

 **So this is a new story I started writing while being on vacation. It isn't as much for entertainment as it is for learning. I have one important lesson to teach. Do not (and I repeat) do NOT ever travel with Nanase Haruka (or the rest of the Free cast for that matter) stuck in your brain because this is the result.**

 **This story is inspired by and based on what my family did this summer. (from June 28th to July 26th) There are made a number of changes on minor details, but for most of the part, I have actually send the Tachibana family on the same trip as I went on with my own family.**

 **Every day I will publish for a given day. This is something you will need to keep in mind later on when we get mails involved in the matter.**

 **What this story will hold is for most part letters from Makoto to Haru and later on mails both to and from Makoto to other characters. Because of all the writing in the story, I have tried to make the language used sound like written language, though I may not have grasped exactly what written English requires.**

 **Also, due to privacy of people other than my own family I have left out any other names but those from the Free! universe.**

 **I hope you'll enjoy it.**

 **Jackie**


	2. Day 2

Dear Haru

I have to tell you, it really is hot down here. I did not believe it would be this hot when we arrived yesterday.

Anyhow, we had a few details of our trip planned today. We met with a travel agency to discuss the last parts. He gave us suggestions on what we could do down here. He is Japanese like us but he can actually speak some Indonesian.

We went out to look at Sanur and everything. We went to the beach for a very short while. Ren, Ran and I wanted to go for a swim but the beach was too rocky under the surface of the water so it was impossible for us to place our feet on the sand for a second. Therefore we quickly gave up on that idea. Since it would be noon shortly after, we also had to leave the beach as to not risk getting sunburn.

In the afternoon we went to the biggest pool at our stay. It is true. There really are three pools here. I did not catch much sleep last night so I ended up falling asleep instead of swimming. I guess Ren and Ran had fun playing in the pool without me though.

Afterwards, though, both of them were really tired so while my parents and I went to speak to our travel agency again, the two of them stayed at the hotel and slept for a while. I think it was good for them.

We got tickets for the boat that should take us to one of our many destinations later on this trip and also arranged for that we could come out to something called Dolphin Interaction tomorrow. I do not know exactly what it means, but I know they are swimming around in the ocean. They are being kept at that place because they got hurt from being caught by fishermen.

I will admit I feel sorry for the dolphins, but I do not think they mind being in captive if this is for the better. It could have been worse. They could have been kept in a pool somewhere.

I think I look forward to tomorrow. Ren and Ran certainly do. Ran cannot seem to sleep because of all the excitement and although I cannot see him, I think Ren cannot sleep either. I bet it would help them a bit if I lay down to sleep though.

I almost forgot. Since today is your birthday and all, happy birthday, Haru. This goes from all of us.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **I'm sorry this story isn't that exciting. It will be more interesting eventually but it will take some time. I apologize for all this.**

 **Jackie**


	3. Day 3

Dear Haru

Remember what I mentioned in the letter yesterday about the dolphins? Today we went to see them. The point up until then wasn't really much to speak of. We walked around and saw a bit of the town just like yesterday and swam in the pool until a guy came to pick us up. I did mention there were many kind people down here, he did not seem like one of them. He was acting like he did not care about us and really did not like driving tourists around.

I was shocked to notice that he was also driving a bit past the speed limit on the roads. He did not even slow down once we drove on a smaller road and we actually ended up being way too early for the whole thing.

We were not the only ones who were going to interact with the dolphins. Along with us in the boat were three European people. My mother says they were French. I do not speak French though, so I cannot tell.

Anyway, we went to a huge platform with large holes in it, a bit like pools but the only thing that separated these pools from the rest of the ocean was a net. This allowed fish to pass as much as they wanted.

Down in the pool, attached to the platform, were two smaller platforms, separated from each other. We had one all to ourselves while the French people had the other one. We also had a guide to ourselves, and a dolphin too. We hugged the dolphin and touched it. It felt like a beach toy, but then we got to feel the heart of the dolphin, yes it was a living thing.

We were told its name. It was apparently female, they named it Jasmin. Though when Ren, Ran and I were on our way out, we all agreed it reminded us of you and secretly agreed on naming it after you. It is now confirmed. You really are like a dolphin, Haru.

We were about to leave when one of the guides suggested that we went to see some stingrays. So we did. We even went swimming with them. I was first in the water and then Ren and Ran came in shortly after. My mother went in too and so did the French people. My father stayed on the platform to record the whole thing. We got it on video now. It will be fun to watch once we come back home. You should watch it too.

After all these experiences we went back to shore and were driven back to the hotel. We all agreed it was best showering back there since there was not much room at the dolphin place and our driver was getting impatient.

After this load of experience I sure am glad to be back in bed now tonight. Tomorrow we will leave Sanur. We have booked a driver for the entire day and are going to see a lot of stuff. I look forward to it.

I am wondering though, how are you doing back at home? Do not worry. I will be home before you know it. Say hi to the others for me.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **I don't know if anyone has made it this far but I have something I would like to inform you of. I have another story written for Free! in a Fanfiction Novel Contest on [slash] fandom. The story is called Free Parenting. I published it here a little while ago. I am not aiming for first place but I would like if someone else went to vote without being asked directly. The contest ends in two days (October 21st) If you haven't read the story, check it out, the readers weren't complaining. **

**That's all for now.**

 **Jackie**


	4. Day 4

Dear Haru.

Today it is Thursday and we left Sanur just this morning. We had hired a driver who drove us around on a bit of Bali as we could see something. We went to a town where there were a lot of things made of silver. We even went and bought something. Ran bought a necklace, or rather, my father bought it for her. Ren and I did not buy anything. Ren claimed it was girly stuff while I just could not seem to find anything I liked. It did not matter though. There were other things to look at. They had made pictures entirely of silver. We even saw a plant made of silver. It is hard to believe there are people who will work so much and so hard on things like these.

Afterwards we went to see an old palace. I think the family who used to own it actually still lives there. We went on a museum and saw some of the things that had belonged to the family.

There was also a room where the king would judge people for wrongs they had committed. He would sit there with all his advisors. There were pictures painted on the inside of the roof. It revealed some of the punishments you would go through for different crimes.

Then we went to a temple by the coast. It is called Ulavatu, I think so anyway. I cannot spell it. We saw some Chinese people who were standing by the edge. I cannot believe how they would dare. I would be too scared to go near it. There is a far fall of what looked to be more than 200m down to the surface of the water. I do not think I would risk taking that fall… My father took a picture of us while we were at a safe distance from the edge.

We ended up at what looked like an old theater. Once we had walked by that we started seeing monkeys. One of them jumped on my mother but when Ren and Ran reached up to have it climb unto them, it started scratching at them. It even ended up scratching my mother. It was pretty aggressive.

We decided that had been enough experience for one day and went back as we could be brought to our hotel.

When we arrived at the hotel in Nusa Dua, which was our next stop, we almost believed we had been dropped off at the wrong place. It was a three star hotel, but it looked like they had got at least five stars. I admit, I was breath taken for a while. We will stay here until Monday morning. The plan is to rest up here, I think. There is a pool here too and I went there to swim with Ren and Ran for a bit.

I will say, the hotel might be amazing, but it is safe to say we are really in a local area. There are only narrow sidewalks, and you have to walk far to get to the nearest restaurant that does not only serve local food and where you can actually sit and eat.

It is getting late now though. Ren is already fast asleep. I promised I would share with him here and though Ran tried to object to the idea, I stood my ground and here we are. Now I should stop writing and start sleeping instead. I am tired too.

See you.

Makoto


	5. Day 5

Dear Haru.

It is a couple of days ago now, but I decided to write a letter to you every single day while we are here in Indonesia. However, today I am facing a problem because we did not really do much today. I will start explaining things as well as I can though.

I think they got a star too little, maybe even two at this hotel. We slept well in way comfortable beds and once we came down for breakfast… We were all stunned at how much there was. There were eggs of all kinds, noodles of all kinds, rice of all kind and there was bread, some you could cut freshly and toast, both normal, more coarse and some green toast. There were all the cakes you could think of (I bet Nagisa would be pleased) you could have eggs prepared in any way you could think of, there were even things I had never seen before. You could also have soup for breakfast if you liked. I did not see if they have mackerel, but it would not surprise me if they did.

After trying everything we could fill our stomach with for one morning we went and prepared to go to the beach. The hotel had a bus, driving directly to their part of the beach. The problem was that it was not running until noon. The last bus back would be at 4 in the afternoon. That gave us four hours. Since we planned this trip with the fact of having no concerns of time in mind, we therefore decided to walk to the beach instead. It was not that far anyway. Or so we thought.

It was not far to the beach, I suppose it took us about 20 minutes of walk until we could see the shore, but the walk to the part of the beach that belonged to the hotel was far. Once we hit the beach we went through a big resort. I have never seen anything like that! We passed by a couple of pools, at least two restaurants and a huge amount of tourists who were staying there. There were green open fields. I do not usually consider us poor, but while we were walking through that resort I suddenly felt like I had nothing compared to those we were walking by.

Once we made it to our part of the beach it was long forgotten though. We had a nice spot, in the shade and with a perfect view to the ocean, behind us were the pool, yes the pool, which also belonged to this place. It was not that deep though. The water reached about the same level as my hips at max. Our pool at school is deeper than that.

We spent all afternoon at the beach. Then we went back to the hotel and showered and changed before heading out for dinner. It is more expensive eating at the hotel because you have to pay taxes to the staff as well. Therefore, even if it is possible to eat at the hotel, we always eat at other restaurants. I wonder though, judging by how much you could pick from at breakfast, how many meals are there in the menu card for dinner?

I will think about that while I try to fall asleep.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **And here comes a fun fact. On the days when I thought nothing special really happened it ended up being some of the longest letters.**

 **Thank you to those who read this story. There sure are a lot more than the few 0 people I had expected.**

 **Please leave a review if you feel like it, also favorite or follow if that's what you want, but I don't expect it from anyone in this case. *laughs a bit***

 **Jackie**


	6. Day 6

Dear Haru

Today was a pretty good day too. We did not spend any time in the water though. Most of us had gotten a slight sunburn so therefore we went out to look at stuff instead. We were again at the tourist area of Nusa Dua, which is where the outdoor shopping center we went to was located.

We did not do much. We ended up buying nothing except a couple of drinks but we went looking at what they called an art marked. There was almost anything you could think of. There were fans, bags, accessories, and lots of wooden figures. I got a little embarrassed when Ran found a figure that looked like a (…) penis. And now Ren is asking me why I am blushing while writing! This is not good.

We finished walking around and just relaxed for the rest of the day until it was about dinner time. Ren and I ended up watching some MTV on the TV in our room. We hit a Japanese show. Ren was happy about finally hearing something he understood. I am not that good at English myself, so I understand what he means. Most people here either speak English or Indonesian. And then there are those who speak an entirely different language that we have no chance of ever learn to understand, let alone figure out what language it is.

I am starting to wonder, how are you doing? Are things fine without me? How are the others doing?

I do not know how long it will take for the letter to arrive in Japan but I highly doubt it will arrive before I leave for the next part of the trip.

I do not think I told you, but we are going to Borneo on Monday morning to stay on a boat for a couple of days and sail on a river. We all look forward to it.

I do not know why, but I somehow wish you could be here to share all these experiences with me. Even if you do not say much, your presence means something too. Ren and Ran wish you could be here too.

Another day of relaxation awaits us tomorrow though.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **You guys are lucky. I actually considered not coming online today to upload due to exhaustion, but this is not difficult to do so I overcame it and logged on. I really want to stick to the deadline. I like that my readers have something they can count on.**

 **I'll see you again tomorrow**

 **Jackie**


	7. Day 7

Dear Haru

Today was another day of relaxation. We went back to the beach and just like the first day, we spent all day there, just relaxing. We even had lunch there. I cannot believe I can eat it in this heat though.

Ren and Ran are both so full of energy these days, today it was a little different for me though, I was surprisingly tired. We watched how the water level fell on the beach. I do not think I mentioned that in the last letter. You will not believe it! When we arrived around noon it looked normal but around the middle of the afternoon, where the water level reached around my hips, there suddenly was no water at all. It was somewhat like a little tsunami was coming, I could not help but fear that it would, but my father told me the water was pulling back too slowly for that.

I am not sure how, but today ended up being the day for forgetfulness. When we were on our way back to the hotel, mother remembered she had forgotten her sunglasses at the toilet after changing clothes in there along with Ran. (Ran forgot about mother's sunglasses too) and when we arrived back at the hotel we discovered that Ren had forgotten his swimsuit at the toilet where we were changing. I had to run all the way back and get it for him before the pool area closed up. (I do not know if it does, but I was afraid that it would.)

We went out to eat at a restaurant with a more European style to it tonight. There was a man playing music there. He was really good at what he was doing. Though I am not sure I get the idea of having someone play music while you are eating, but none of us really minded it.

Tomorrow we leave for Borneo. We have packed everything we will need in one suitcase, one of the smallest ones we have.

I will not be able to send letters from the boat. I really am sorry about that. I will write one for you every day though. Then I will send you four letters once I return from there, if we include the day of my return to Bali.

Well, we are getting up early tomorrow so I will say goodbye for now.

See you.

Makoto

Ps: please say hi to the others for me, both Nagisa and Rei


	8. Day 8

Dear Haru

This morning we were up way earlier than we usually are on week days. We were up before 5:30 in the morning. I had a bit of trouble getting Ren out of bed. I hate to say it, but this morning, I am grateful I did not have to deal with both the twins. We all got a little nervous when our driver did not show up on time. We were to catch an interior flight for the airport in Surabaya. He came though, and we got to the airport on time. There was no reason to worry. We even had time enough to sit down and have something to drink before our plane departed.

We landed in Surabaya and had to spend three hours there, waiting for our next plane to arrive. We mostly just sat around. The airport in Surabaya was really boring to be at. I assume it is because it is not an international airport like the one in Denpasar (on Bali).

We got an even smaller plane to the airport on Kalimantan, Pankalanbun (I hope I spelled that right).

When we got out of the airport and exited, our guide was already there waiting for us. They had booked two taxis for us because the cars were for five people only and with both a guide and a driver we would be seven people. Therefore my mother, my father and the guide went into one car while Ren, Ran and I went into the other. On our way we stopped by a place where we would need some more identification. At first Ran talked about that we were going to be sold, scaring both herself and Ren half to death. I tried to keep calm, but I highly doubt it worked.

I had my English tested too since our driver did not speak Japanese, but I think we were evenly bad at English and that made any kind of communication difficult.

We were dropped off in Kumai and went on the boat where we will stay for the next few days. It is really spacy. We have the entire upper floor to ourselves. There is a table and five chairs and two mattresses. This is all to ourselves. There is a roof, but no walls, which means the wind blows right in while we are sailing. The sunlight is also shining through. There is a toilet in the far back. We have to throw our paper in the trash though, that is a little strange, but I think we will get used to it. There is a bucket (a huge one thankfully) with water from the river that we can use for showering, there is another one next to the toilet for getting rid of our… you know what I mean.

When we got here we had lunch. It was about the first thing. It was really good. I have not tasted such good home-cooked meals in a while. The chef here is really good at cooking. Just as good as you, if not better.

I never told you the point of this trip, did I? We are going to sail through the jungle to see orangutans. According to our guide, 'orang' means forest and 'utan' means human. So it is a forest human. We saw one just as we arrived at the jungle. None of us had expected to see one until sometime tomorrow, but I guess we were lucky.

The rest of the afternoon went with relaxation. The captain of the boat got some leaves to make some hats of. He said it was for his family. He asked us if we wanted to help out, so at the end of the afternoon, Ren, Ran and I sat and worked hard to turn the leaves into something braid-like. It was fun to watch how we would all slowly get used to doing this. I get the feeling you would be good at this too. So did Ren and Ran.

It turned out the hats were for us and we got to wear them while watching a movie about an orangutan from one of the camps we are going to visit tomorrow. After that we had dinner and tired from all the experiences we are now about to go to bed. They brought up two more mattresses for us to sleep on as we now have four. They also put up mosquito nets for us. There is now a blue and a pink area. Ren states that he, my father and I sleep in the blue area and mother and Ran sleep in the pink, but Ran wants to sleep with me too. I wonder why they are always fighting over me. Anyways, we agreed that the three of us could sleep together and I think that has satisfied both of them.

I will end this letter for now. I cannot seem to stop yawning so it is best if I go to bed.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **So, just last night my mother started reading from the diary we wrote while we were on this trip. So now I get to relive it a third time. The diary actually holds most of the same material as this story does so there isn't much of a difference in the work. We are at day 2 in the diary so far.**

 **For your information, we just got started on my personal favorite part of the journey. But my favorite part of the story has yet to come. We'll get started on that once this part is over. Then things will be so much more fun because, guess what, we're getting response! Yay!**

 **Hope you guys can hold on till then.**

 **Jackie**


	9. Day 9

Dear Haru

I am really starting to wonder about how you are doing back in Japan. I hope you manage fine without me. Somehow I cannot shake the feeling off that there is something wrong with you even if we are so far apart I continuously worry about you. I doubt it is healthy, but I cannot help it.

We had breakfast on the boat before we started sailing. Again it was another delicious meal. We then sailed to the first camp where we were to watch a feeding of orangutans at 9 in the morning. There were not too many people, but there were even fewer orangutans. I did not count them, but nothing really seemed to happen.

We walked back to the boat through the jungle. It has to be mentioned that we walked on a path to the feeding place. Our guide showed us a toxic tree and many different plants. He explained everything we saw actually. His English is well. The only reason why I do not understand all he says is because my own English is lacking some. But all he says is so interesting I wish I understood.

It was really hot walking through the jungle, but when we made it back, the crew had prepared cool cloths for us, along with juice. This made the walk worth it. They even made some bracelets for all of us. Ren and Ran are both wearing theirs and my mother is wearing hers too, but my father and I cannot seem to get the bracelets on our wrists. I think it is because our hands are too big.

We had lunch on the boat while we were sailing. Then we came to a place named Camp Liki. We got to the feeding place early and got seats up front. We watched as a lot of orangutans, burs and a single monkey of a different kind all went to have their fill. The orangutans were fighting a lot with the burs, and even the rangers had to step in and help the orangutans.

The orangutans were not shy at all here. They actually went right past us. If I had stretched my hand out at the right moment, I could have touched one. Only afterwards Ren and Ran made me aware of that.

We pulled up by a small bridge and soon after we were offered to come see a small crocodile that had been captured. Reminds me, before we went into Camp Liki our guide told us a story about a British man who had jumped into the river. They found the remains of him two days later. I remember thinking that jumping in the river is something YOU really should not do. But then again, knowing you, you would do it if you got here. Seriously, Haru, do not jump in!

Anyways, I held the crocodile and we all agreed on showering. A group of men had gathered some water from the river and were washing themselves on the bridge. We did not do that though. We just went to the toilet and washed ourselves there, quickly.

At night we went for a walk in the jungle. We did not see much except a few fireflies, a bird sleeping under a leaf, and lots of stars. We then went back to bed. We have got some blankets now since we ended up freezing last night. Ren and Ran have both snuggled close to me now. Both are so cold. I should help warm them up now.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **Please note, that the only reason why Makoto has trouble understanding the English is because the wiki says he is bad in English, just like Haru. English is not my first language, but honestly I sometimes feel better and more comfortable when speaking English. (the total opposite of those two)**

 **Enough about this. I'll see you tomorrow**

 **Jackie**


	10. Day 10

Dear Haru

Today we went to plant a couple of trees. It is for the sake of the jungle and all the animals living here. We picked a couple of trees that we believed would help the animals the most. Ren and Ran got to decide the names. For some reason we found ourselves in the ocean life as they started arguing about what the trees should be called. Ren said Shark and Dolphin while Ran stuck with Dolphin and Killer Whale. The argument got intense. I do not think I have ever seen the two of them fight this hard before, they even fought over whether the names would be in English or Japanese. Their argument almost reached the point where they started fighting, until I stepped in and offered to buy one more. So now we have three trees in the jungle. One named Same, one named Iruka, and one named Shachi.

Now that I think about it, it is a bit funny that it ended up being these names. One could argue that they are named after you, Rin and me.

After this we went to watch the last feeding of orangutans. It was not as eventful as the second one yesterday, but it was fun anyway. It was a bit troublesome for us to make our way through the jungle. There were times when Ren and Ran could barely take a step because of the roots, and there were also once when I had to dodge a branch.

It was then becoming late and as the sun started setting we reached the place where we would stay for the night. Tonight we are going to watch the fireflies. They said it is the best spot to watch them from and we were lucky enough to get there first. Many more boats came by but all of them had to turn around and find another spot to be at. I have stopped counting how many passed by already.

After dinner we sat up on the boat and watched as the fireflies started coming to life. You will not believe how many there were. They lit up the tree above us as it glittered, almost like a Christmas tree. It was stunningly beautiful.

Afterwards we sat and spoke to the guide and the captain of the boat. It was a lot of fun to talk to them. We used English as communication and then we taught them Japanese while they taught us Indonesian. The word for water in Indonesian is 'air'.

I really had the feeling that we were all enjoying that moment and that we were actually making friends, even if I somehow, deep down, know that we will probably never ever see these guys again. That thought is saddening.

We are now in bed again. We are getting up early again tomorrow because we have to catch the flight to Surabaya and then the other flight back to Denpasar on Bali. This has been so much fun and I am sure I will never ever forget this experience we had. I will tell you more when I come home.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **Same = Shark, Iruka = Dolphin, Shachi = Killer Whale**

 **I think this is the first time when I really changed something important, I couldn't decide on which one of them it would be either you see (in the tree case) so I made the whole thing up of buying an extra tree. In reality we only bought two.**

 **Jackie**


	11. Day 11

**Tomorrow I will start publishing emails as well as the daily letter. This means that while the rest of the story is being published there will be more than one chapter pr. day. Tomorrow we go with three (two extra). Please take a look at what the chapter is called (the number of day) and not just pick the one furthest down. Then you'll miss out on the better part of the story.**

* * *

Dear Haru

We were up early this morning too. We have actually been up before 9 every morning since Monday. We had breakfast and then headed back. After around two hours we arrived at Kumai. It was still early in the morning then. We then went off the boat and said goodbye. We had a picture taken of the crew on the boat and our guide, all together and then a picture of us all together. Now we have something to remember them by.

Just before we left I asked how to say goodbye in Indonesian. I do not remember the word now, but I remember the meaning. The phrase we were given meant goodbye in the case when we left and they stayed behind. We do not even have such in Japanese. I found it sad, so did Ran. She had this saddened look on her face almost all the way to the airport.

The plane was delayed so we had to sit around and wait a lot. Since the airport was so small there was nothing to do for us while waiting. All they had was a check in hall and a waiting hall. I tried to keep Ren and Ran entertained as they would not bother our parents. We were all getting a little worried because of the delay, but it all turned out well in the end. We landed in Surabaya and fortunately, our delay had only shortened our waiting time in Surabaya a bit, unlike someone who had also been on the boats in the same time as we had. They were to go to Lombok, but did not reach their plane in time, so they had to wait for five hours. We had to wait for three or four I do not remember.

We managed to pass the time fine. We went looking around in the airport and played some games to entertain ourselves. The hours turned into nothing and we had to go to the gate before I knew it. We also quickly made it through in Denpasar once we arrived there. We were picked up and driven to our next stop. Ran was feeling slightly ill and just wanted to get off the car, but since it was a one hour long drive, it would be a little difficult for her to walk all the way to Ubud. No matter what any of us did, we could not make her forget about her sickness.

At the hotel there were only two rooms with a two persons bed in each. The one showing us the room stated that we could be three in one bed. This, however, became troublesome the moment he left. Ren, Ran and I did agree on sharing one room but neither Ren, nor Ran wanted to be three sharing the bed and started arguing who of them should not sleep there. I finally decided on sleeping on the small coach that was also in the room. I got a blanket and a towel and that was it. This is where I am lying now, not so comfortable, but better than Ren and Ran arguing all night.

We had dinner at a good pizza place just around the corner from here. Aside from that we are living close to the main road and in the middle of some rice fields that are no longer being used. It is not as fine as in Nusa Dua, but it is certainly not the worst either. There is not so much noise here.

We think Ran caught a cold. She is sniffing a lot. We went and bought something for her. I hope she is not too bothered by it and asleep. I should get to sleep too. I am tired.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **I can only agree with Makoto on the sleeping matter. It wasn't comfortable, but at least it could've been worse. The couch was about 180 long or so and Makoto and I are equally tall. (Not lying)**

 **About that way to say goodbye there is referred to: It was originally my sister asking but she is so forgetful and of course forgot the word before we got the time to write it down, so if anyone Indonesian happen to read this and know the word, please message me or leave a review holding that word because I really want to remember. Thank you!**

 **Again a reminder that there will be two extra chapters tomorrow. Look at the number of day to be sure you read the right one.**

 **Jackie**


	12. Day 12 (Nagisa - Makoto)

_(Send on Day 10)_

Hey Mako-chan!

I was wondering about something. Just yesterday at practice Haru-chan said that he should say "hi" from you and that you have send him letters all this time! Ever since you left from Japan to go to Indonesia! That's not fair! I want a letter too! How come you only send letters to Haru-chan! *crying smiley*

Rei-chan says I shouldn't bother you about this, but I also have other things to ask you about Mako-chan.

First off, I hear you are not dead, so how is that place, what have you been doing up till now? Is it fun? Do you get to swim a bit? Are people nice? Should I go there someday? Did you buy stuff for us yet?

I also wanted to tell you how things are here since Haru-chan doesn't seem like the type to respond, not even to letters. I mean, when I mail him, he never ever answers.

Things are fine here so far. We are having a joint practice with Samezuka's team in three days. Rin-chan arranged a while back if you remember. I didn't. Gou-chan had to remind me. We haven't seen Rin-chan in a while now that I think about it, It's gonna be fun!

We are all doing fine, Rei-chan scored top-grade in math again just after you left and because of that he is forcing me to study even harder *whiny smiley* I can't help that I suck at it! I really don't want to though.

Haru-chan is doing fine too, though he has been more distant lately. He barely talks at all, not even when we talk to him. I miss hearing his voice some. I asked Rei-chan and Gou-chan what could be up with him and Gou-chan suggested that he was lonely. I don't know how to stop him from being lonely. I don't know why he is either, we are all here except you! If you could give us some advice on the matter it would be nice. I don't want to worry you but we really need your help Mako-chan!

I hope you can read this mail and will please answer with answers on my questions. If you can attach some sweets to the next e-mail you send it would be nice.

I should say hi from both Rei-chan and Gou-chan!

Have fun!

Nagisa *Laughing smiley*

* * *

 **Stars are marking the smileys.**

 **Now we finally get to know what is going on in Iwatobi. I hope you liked this, there is more of this to come of course.**

 **Please leave a review, favorite or follow if you want.**

 **Jackie**


	13. Day 12 (Makoto - Nagisa)

Dear Nagisa

Things are fine down here in the south. It is much warmer and it gets darker a lot earlier in Japan. The food culture is also different. You might like their crisps down here. They're really sweet compared to what is imported from places like America. Actually most food down here is sweet.

We have not been doing much so far. We went and bathed with a dolphin one of the first days we were here. We went and saw a palace and a temple and other tourist attractions. We have also been on Borneo and seen orangutans. Aside from that we have been relaxing and done nothing but enjoying the culture and that we had some days off.

Please do not mention school too much in your mails. I feel bad for not being there!

I guess I should explain why I have not answered your mail. It appears it has been on its way for two days because I had no internet. I am very sorry about that. Also I could have send you mails but I forgot I guess. The reason why I write letters to Haru exclusively is because I know he never checks his mail. That is probably why he does not answer yours. Try having him check it someday? I figured there was a bigger chance he would read letters than reading e-mails.

I am glad to hear that things are going well for all of you. Do not worry about Rei though. I am sure it will die down soon, like it always does eventually. But he is right, you should study some more at least. I know it is tough but I think that is another way to get around Rei bothering you so much about the studying.

I had almost forgotten about the joint practice as well. But I was not the one to arrange it so I guess that is no surprise. It was Gou pulling the strings, as always. She is good at such.

About Haru, I do not know what to do at all. I do not know how it is normal for him to act and feel when I am not around. Then again, I doubt we have ever been apart for this long since we made friends. I honestly do not remember a time when I did not see Haru at least once a week and even when we were in different classes in middle school, we still saw each other every day because of swim club activities and the fact that we always walked together. I have never dealt with a thing like this before. If Haru is lonely then try to talk to him. I know you do already but that is the best advice I can give.

I will be sure to write to you every now and then from now on, okay? There is no need to feel left out. Tell Rei and Gou hi from me, and Rin too, at the joint practice.

See you.

Makoto


	14. Day 12

Dear Haru

Today we went out to experience Ubud, the city of art here on Bali. We went to a place called Monkey Forest where there are, as you can tell by the name, lots of monkeys. Our goal was apparently to have all of us trying to have a monkey sit on us. At first there were none. Then Ren had a monkey sit on him. Then I gave it a shot, I just stretched out my arm towards a monkey, hoping it would climb unto my arm. It went ahead and sat on my knee instead, strange one.

Eventually all of us had tried to have a monkey climb on us except Ran. She got really upset about it. We tried everything to have a monkey climb onto her but nothing seemed to work until we went a bit separate from the other people. Then the monkeys came climbing onto us. Ran got her fair share too. One even started looking through her hair. I do not know what for, maybe it thought she had lice or something. They were entertaining to have around, but soon we got tired and just wanted to get out. It was fun, but tough to act as a monkey-playground. However, on our way out we were attacked by a group of small monkeys and one climbed onto Ren. He had fun until the monkey decided to start pooping on him. Then we could not get out fast enough. Fortunately not much harm was done.

We went back to the hotel and relaxed a lot. My parents wanted to go to a marked but Ren, Ran and I were all tired. I do not know why I am this tired though, though I am sniffing a lot, similar to Ran, so I suspect that I am coming down with whatever she has, probably a cold.

Nagisa send me a mail today. I spent some of the time I suddenly had on answering him. Apparently you guys have a joint practice with Samezuka tomorrow. Good luck with that, even if it is a little late. He also says you are feeling lonely. Is that true? I am so sorry if it is.

Mother just took my temperature. It turns out both Ran and I have a slight fever. It is probably the same cold we came down with. Mother says it is because of the many changes in temperature we have been going through lately, the coldness of the nights in the jungle, the heat during the day and the air condition in the airport and in the planes. All of it might have affected us more than we thought. It is not bad though. My nose is running with water and my head is a bit heavy. Aside from that I am fine. You do not have to worry about me. Worry about yourself instead. I hope you are okay Haru.

Hold on, see you.

Makoto


	15. Day 13

Dear Haru

Today we went on a walk. I went with Ren and my father. We were walking a rout between a lot of rice fields. I think we walked the wrong one though. We ended up walking on a path that was so narrow that we could barely walk there one by one. I wonder what we would have done if someone had come from the other end of it. There was a fall at around ten meters down into a river. I have no doubt if you fell, you could die from that fall, or at least get hurt pretty bad. I therefore made sure to watch out for both myself and Ren as none of us got hurt in any way. Once we were away from that path, it was a nice walk though, comfortable and beautiful.

It got more and more crowded as we walked and the path got wider eventually. We managed to walk through some local area. I think the Indonesian people still have school seeing as we walked past three boys who appeared to be wearing their school uniform.

We came back to mother and Ran and mother decided she wanted to walk that same way as well and left. I do not know what father did but I stayed behind with Ren and Ran and we rested up for a bit. Besides that, we have not been doing much today.

I tried to shower while Ren and Ran wanted to take a bath in the bathtub we had. It did not go too well. The two of them had hot water until the moment when I turned on the shower. Then no one got hot water at all. It was only after they had turned the water off for a little while that the water in the shower got warm enough that I felt like I could use it. You would not have minded, but I sure did and Ren and Ran would not stop complaining about it for a second.

Aside from the water issue I have no complains about this place. It is spacious and their breakfast is good, though not as variated as we have experienced at places like Nusa Dua (and I really wonder if we will ever find anything more variated than that)

We had some of our clothes washed and went for a restaurant that was known for its little dishes. It was good, but I did not get very full. But it was a good experience and we only had to walk few steps to get our clean clothes.

I think my cold is getting better, same goes for Ran. Though one more night of sleep will do us good. I will go to sleep, but I need to answer the mails I have got. I have two. I assume one is from Nagisa, but I wonder who the other is from. I have yet to check that.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **About those showers. I'm seriously not kidding. That really did happen. and we couldn't even shower while our parents were using their shower downstairs. If one of us showered it was fine, but once two in the building started using hot water, everyone got it icy cold. One of my sisters had to was herself by the sink.**

 **But again, it wasn't bad at the hotel. All the positive things Makoto says are true. At least about that. Of course it is about a 25% or so of this story that is fiction so not all of it is what actually happened. But I'm sure I told you this before, if not, I'm more forgetful than I thought.**

 **Jackie**


	16. Day 13 (Nagisa - Makoto)

Hey Mako-chan!

Nice to hear from you again. I missed you. I'm so glad you answered my mail!

I am glad you are doing good there. But you forgot to answer one question of mine. Are you gonna buy me something? Some of those crisps would be nice. I would love to try them out, maybe… if they have a strawberry cake or other things with strawberry flavor, bring it home too please!

Today I came to wonder, did you ever tell Rin-chan that you left? When we arrived at Samezuka's he asked if you were sick or something and looked really surprised when we said you were in Indonesia.

We tried doing what you said about Haru-chan. It still isn't working at all. He doesn't want to talk to us it seems. He is really cold and distant and it is getting worse every single day! Seriously he needs help. Can't you do something? Even I am getting worried and Gou-chan says that's rare.

Speaking of Gou-chan. She said I should write this to you. "Don't slack off, make sure to keep your strength up and don't fall behind. Be sure to train your swimming,"

Rei-chan said I should write this from him. "I hope you have a lot of good experience and see a lot of beautiful things. Be sure to take pictures. We look forward to seeing you again," That's that.

I will say goodbye for now. Dinner is ready and Rei-chan is treating me to strawberry ice cream after this because I studied without complains today. Thanks for the advice.

By the way, Mako-chan, do you see any other interesting animals down there? I mean you saw dolphins and monkeys are there any penguins down there? What do the people look like? Are they much different from us? Are they black? What about food, have you gotten food poisoned or something?

Oh yeah, I was gonna go wasn't I?

Have fun!

Nagisa *Laughing smiley*


	17. Day 13 (Makoto - Nagisa)

Dear Nagisa.

I am sorry I forgot to answer that one question. I do not have much to say on the subject though since the idea of a present is that it has to be somewhat a surprise.

You're right though, I did not tell Rin that I was going on vacation. He is probably not too happy with that. But I doubt he would tell it either if he was going somewhere.

I am happy to hear that Rei and Gou have not changed a bit these past two weeks. Tell them thank you for that.

I am glad my advice with the studying helped. I hope you enjoy your ice cream. Then again, you have always enjoyed the strawberry flavor. I will see if I find anything with that and bring it home to you if possible. How does that sound?

No there are no penguins down here. It is way too hot for them to survive. The people here are not too different from us. Their skin might be a bit darker but they certainly are not black or anything. As far as I know, black people mostly live in Africa. Maybe you should work on your geography next.

See you

Makoto


	18. Day 13 (Rin - Makoto)

Hey Makoto

I heard you went on vacation in Indonesia without telling me. Nagisa told me about it at our joint practice today. It doesn't seem like you. You would always inform your friends if you left, won't you?

Anyway, when I heard of this I got curious about a lot of things. First off, Indonesia is a huge country. What island are you at? Sumatra, Java, Lombok, Bali? What have you been doing? Is it much different from Japan and all that stuff? Hold on, you are not slacking off too much and getting out of shape are you? Samezuka needs a challenge during the next swimming tournament. I'm sure Gou have already reminded you of that. I just need to be sure.

I also hope you are getting better at English, maybe when you return you could teach Haru some. He is probably still as hopeless as ever. I mean seriously, he can barely even say, "Hello", "yes", "no", "Two mackerel". I hope you can communicate a bit better at least.

Speaking of Haru, I don't know if anyone told you, I don't know if you have heard anything about what's going on back here, but upon seeing Haru today, he appeared a bit lonely. I wonder if it's because you're not there with him. Someone should do something to help him. It seemed Nagisa and the others were doing all they could, but it didn't seem to work well.

How long have you been gone by now and for how much longer are you gonna stay down there? Hope you come home soon as our teams can have another relay against each other. That could be fin.

C'ya.

Rin


	19. Day 13 (Makoto - Rin)

Dear Rin

I am so very sorry I did not tell you about this before I left. I did not think about it until I had already left Japan. It all just happened suddenly and quickly. We have not had much time planning this trip. It was seriously fast paced.

We are on Bali right now but we have also been to Borneo earlier on this trip. We went there to see orangutans. We also planted some trees in the jungle. Three of them. All were named after animals in the ocean. We got to name them too, Same, Iruka and Shachi, my younger siblings suggested it.

We have not been doing much besides that and a little bit of sightseeing. I think we will be doing a bit more of that later on. We are going to climb a mountain in a few days so I doubt my muscles really get to relax that much. That is gonna be fun too.

It is true Haru is bad at English, but I am not one to talk. I can barely communicate with them down here, so I do not think I have much to teach Haru once I return.

Nagisa did mention Haru was not doing so well lately. You are not the first to observe that. I had no clue of what else he and the others could do about it besides talking to Haru. I wonder though, if you could stick around him for a bit and make sure he is not so lonely. Even if the two of you do not get along as well as I do with him, I know you being there is probably just as good, and I am sure it will help him some. I am counting on you, Rin.

I have been gone for around two weeks. It will be another two weeks before I come home. We are gone for 28 days I think. It will be good to come back to another great relay.

See you then.

Makoto

* * *

 **As you may have noticed by now, everyone has their own style of writing in this story based on how I think they would write through letters and e-mails. Though I am certain Nagisa would add at least 10 more smileys than those I've put in his mails, I have just been lazy and forgotten about the smileys. I hope this explains the lack of those.**

 **Well, it has been five chapters today. That's a lot of mailing. I hope it wasn't too tiresome or anything. Fortunately these days are rare. Tomorrow we've only got three updates. I just had to get the mailing started, so that's why there has been a lot today. I really hope it's OK.**

 **But I'll see you guys again tomorrow.**

 **Jackie**


	20. Day 14

Dear Haru

Today was nothing to speak of at all. We had planned to go to a palace located here in Ubud but it turned out only two yards were open for the public. There was not that much to see inside, so we spent most of the day just looking around town.

We booked a ride for tomorrow when we are going to Batur and Agung, volcanos located here on Bali. The plan is that we are going to climb Batur on the day after tomorrow.

I got rid of my fever, same goes for Ran, though we are both still sniffing. I think our colds are dying down now. That is nice.

We packed up everything as we can leave early in the morning tomorrow. Then maybe we can see something on the way if there is anything to see. I hope there is. I miss having experiences. Despite Ubud being the city of art we never really got to see much because Ran and I were sick for part of this and neither Ren, nor Ran were up for doing much while we were here.

Father asked why I keep on writing letters to you. I said I did not know why exactly but it made me feel good to do this, like I remember things better while writing them down. Besides, I want you to know what is going on as you are not missing out on anything. I would not be able to share all of this with you if I waited until I got home before telling you. I think this is better.

I am sorry the letter is not that long today. I hope you do not mind that.

See you

Makoto


	21. Day 14 (Rin - Makoto)

Hey Makoto

You don't have to apologize for forgetting stuff like that. Now that I think about it, it may as well have been pay-back for me not telling you guys when I came home from Australia on break.

Speaking of Australia, back when I was there I heard that Bali was a pretty common place for them to go to on vacation. I know a few of my classmates from back then went there in the summer. I never went myself, but please tell me more about it, I'm a bit curious.

I will try to spend some time with Haru if you think it'll help him. Then let's make a bet, who of us can teach Haru the more English? I get the first two weeks to try and teach him something, that'll give you a head start for when you return. You then get to teach him for two weeks.

Another thing, you should really work on your written language. "Dear" sound like some kind of old fashioned letter, and your language in general isn't really flowing. You sound like a textbook. I hope you aren't writing like this when writing to Haru, I'm betting he's getting bored from your letters.

Anyways I'll see you in two weeks, have fun 'til then.

C'ya

Rin


	22. Day 14 (Makoto - Rin)

Hey Rin

Though your words about my writing did strike a bit I try to follow your advice, at least when it comes to our mails for the time being. I do not really feel like wanting to change my style in the letters I send to Haru.

Hold on, how did you know I was sending letters to Haru? Did Nagisa tell you?

I am not sure I am up for the challenge, I mean, both of us know that you will win, but if that's what you want I will do my best to see if I can teach Haru something. I doubt I will have much success compared to you though, then again he craves patience when it comes to stuff he is not good at, something you seem to have some lack of. .

I had not heard of the thing with Australian people coming here often, but I guess I could figure. Most people down here speak English, and that so well I have no doubt they are from an English speaking country. Though I am not able to tell the difference between the accents I know Australia is close to Indonesia compared to other countries where the population speaks English.

I will give you a few notes on what is going on here if you would please tell me how Haru is doing. The fact that both you and Nagisa says he is lonely convinces me that he might be and so I worry a lot about him right now. Please keep me updated about him.

I know you would not ask for my help on the matter, but please do it anyway, if you have the slightest doubts about anything.

See you.

Makoto


	23. Day 15

Dear Haru

Remember yesterday when I send a really short letter because nothing really interesting happened? I think today is going to be much different from that.

We woke up and had breakfast like any other morning and then left town a short while before noon. It was a long drive until we reached the mountains. Half way through, our driver asked us if we had tried a special kind of coffee and seen the coffee plantations that were around here. We had not, so he stopped by one on our way to the mountains.

They had many different trees in the plantation. They had coffee, they had melons, and they had jackfruits. I know they had more but these are all I can remember at the moment. We saw some little animals that only exist on Bali. Their job is to eat the coffee beans and then after a while they come out of their system through their poop. It does not sound that nice, does it? They are then cleaned and made into coffee. The idea goes that some special flavor comes to it through the animal's digesting system.

We were then seated on benches and had a tray of different teas and coffees and some hot chocolate. My parents ordered a cup of the coffee that had come through the animal because it is supposedly the most expensive coffee you can get, and I had to try it too, even if I do not drink coffee. I did not change my mind after that. I still do not like coffee very much, but all their teas were good except the ginger one. It was a bit spicy.

We went and bought some of the tea, my parents wanted some coffee too so we bought a pack holding two teas and a coffee. We also wanted a special tea but they did not have that tea because it was out of season. They had cheap saffron though, so we went and bought some of that.

When our driver heard that we did not get the tea (he had recommended it) he went out of his way to stop by another plantation as we could get it somewhere else.

He took us to a restaurant where we could have a look over the mountains around us, Batur and Agung along with the lake too. We also wanted to have lunch there, but the food was bad quality and it was a surprisingly cold place considering the heat outside. So after that disappointing experience we went to the hotel and stayed there for the rest of the day, playing some games in the restaurant and having lunch and dinner there. It was a bit difficult to eat due to all the flies.

We are going early to bed today because we are getting up in the middle of the night. My dad, Ren and I are sharing a room this time while the girls take the other room.

I will go to sleep now. I am going to climb a mountain so I have my work cut out for me from early in the morning. I hope everything goes well.

See you.

Makoto


	24. Day 15 (Rin - Makoto)

Hey Makoto

Sorry if my criticism of your writing came out the wrong way. I'm glad you get what I mean though and I didn't intend on hurting anyone.

The reason how I know you write to Haru? Honestly, I didn't know for sure if you did, I just assumed that was how it was. Knowing you, you would probably want to tell about everything to someone and Haru is just the most ideal choice because he is your oldest and closest friend. Bet you're also sad you had to leave him behind. I can imagine, the fact that you know he is being lonely isn't really helping much, is it?

I'm trying to get something established with Haru. I think we agreed on heading out to do something tomorrow, though I'm not sure what exactly we're gonna do. I also plan on having him study, despite you're not up for the challenge I doubt it would do him any bad to study some more English.

Please give me a few heads-ups in exchange for this. I'll write whenever something eventful happens, you do the same.

C'ya

Rin


	25. Day 16 (Makoto - Rin)

Hey Rin

I am sorry I did not see your mail yesterday since I had to go to bed early. We had to climb a mountain this morning to watch the sunrise. I have to tell you, that was not easy. But we did manage to see the sunrise.

I know you did not intend to hurt anyone. You are just one of those who does not always think before acting. I understand.

I wonder though, how am I so predictable you can just tell like that? Your guesses of my reasoning are almost right too, though it goes a bit deeper. I just do not feel right that he is not here for so long. One could argue that we have been around each other for too long, sometimes I think so too. I cannot seem to stop being around him though. Someone once told us that we complement each other perfectly.

I hope you hanging out with Haru will do some good. Please tell me more about how that went. I really want to know. I do not want to discuss the studying idea though. It is stressing me out.

I try to study a bit myself, but I hardly have the time with all the things that we are doing. When we are done, I hardly ever have the energy to study. But since I doubt we are going to do anything where we are now, I guess I have some time to study.

See you.

Makoto


	26. Day 16

Dear Haru

Hey Haru

I have started mailing with the other guys and Rin commented on the way I address people in my letters. He says the 'dear' is too old-fashioned and asked me to write something else. At first I said I would not do it in my letters to you, but tonight, I thought I would give it a shot. It feels weird though, so I might not use this again.

Anyways, today we were up way before the sun, at around 3 in the morning. We pulled on our warmest clothes and were picked up at four to go to the volcano, Mount Batur and climb it. We were dropped off and were met by two guides. Apparently you need one guide per four people and since we are five we will need two.

We started climbing, the seven of us, and we made it most of the way, Ren and Ran were both complaining about being tired and mother had gotten carsick. We had to stop from time to time because of these two reasons. In the end mother got so bad she had to sit down for a bit. We were nearing the top so father and the twins went up with one guide while I stayed behind with mother and the other guide for half an hour, until she felt better. Then we too climbed to the first point.

There were lots of animals up there, monkeys and dogs, and we even went in to see a cave full of bats. We saw one of the spots where the lava came up and an oven that was part of the volcano and kept warm due to the heat from the lava far, far below us.

When we came back we spent some time packing up. We tried to shower, but the hotel only had either cold water, or ice cold water. I bet even you would have found the cold water a little too cold for your liking.

Afterwards we had a ride waiting for us to Lovina. Most of the way was through the mountains and I have to admit that I got carsick too. Mother did not, because she had taken a motion sickness pill. Even Ren and Ran were not feeling good. Father was the only one who could stomach the ride.

The hotel in Lovina is not so bad. There are bathtubs too and unlike the other hotel, they have hot water. Our rooms have a perfect view, directly down at the pool. Exhausted from this morning we had dinner at the hotel, for the first time on this vacation. It was not bad. Now a whole day of relaxation awaits us before we are going to Padangbai the day after tomorrow.

I still hope things are okay at your end.

Ren and Ran say "hi".

See you

Makoto

* * *

 **I had a feeling something wasn't right. I was right about that. I ended up publishing a chapter yesterday, that originally shouldn't have been posted until today. *sigh* Oh well, it can't be helped now. But I have changed the title of the chapter as it is now correct. I'm very sorry for messing things up like that. Because of my mistake, this is the only chapter for today, again I'm sorry.**

 **I am not sure the top line is scratched. (the one that says Dear Haru). Hopefully it is. If not, it is supposed to be an edition because of a habit and a reference to the title of the story. For a minute I was actually considering having Makoto change all the "dears" to "Hey" but then what would be the point of the title "Dear Haru"?**

 **This is all for today. Thanks for reading.**

 **Jackie**


	27. Day 17

Dear Haru

Today we did nothing but relax. I started studying a little bit while my parents were out looking at the town and finding a place where we could have dinner.

This morning we noticed something in the distance. Taking a closer look, we could tell it was the dolphins that this town is known for. They come really close to shore here. What we also saw was a water theme park. It had been built out in the ocean. There is a really funny story to that.

See, some Australian guy owns a hotel somewhere nearby and he decided to make this park. He had it built because he thought it was easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission, so when he had finished having this park built, he sent a request to the government, but they declined it. Therefore the place just stands there, it is not being used at all. It is not allowed. They cannot tear it down either because it will pollute the water.

Aside from this weird case, the beach is nice here. The sand is black and the water is actually warm. You can't swim here though, much less dive. You have to save that for the pool at the hotel. That place is so small though that it could easily become crowded.

We went to the place my parents had found and had dinner there. Their specialty was pizza. To us it sounded nice to try out. So after walking around 20 minutes and growing more and more hungry, we reached the restaurant around 7 I think. We ordered and sat and waited, and waited, and waited some more. I usually consider myself patient, but in this case, it was almost impossible. An hour after ordering, our food still had yet to show up. We had already ordered our 2nd drink. Ren and Ran were both complaining about being hungry but none of us could do anything about it. Both my parents continuously asked where our food was but it took one more hour before it showed up. In total we spent two full hours of waiting, and honestly, the food was not even worth it. Great disappointment.

After leaving our complains about the long wait we headed back home and went to bed. That is about the end of the story for today.

It is nice down here, but I am starting to miss being back in Japan.

See you

Makoto

* * *

 **I am NOT lying. we really did wait for 2 hours. I don't remember if we actually ordered a third drink or if we stuck with two. We weren't the only ones complaining about that place.**

 **Thanks for the favorites and follow. I hope there's more to come of that.**

 **Jackie**


	28. Day 17 (Rin - Makoto)

Hey Makoto

So, Haru and I went out today. We went out to buy him some more swimsuits because, apparently he had had to trash a few that had gotten worn and therefore needed to replace them. So we went to buy swimsuits and I swear! Have you ever bought swimsuits with Haru? He takes FOREVER! I have never tried shopping with a girl, but I think shopping with Haru was enough experience for the next lifetime. And the worst part, they were all similar to the ones he already has! He truly lives up to his girly name.

So after wasting my precious time we went out for a swim in the ocean. I have no complains there. I got my challenge and Haru got to use one of those newly bought swimsuits. Then we headed to Haru's place. We had lunch there and just sat and talked for a while.

I asked him if he was lonely without you. He didn't give an answer, but I could tell from his expression that it actually is the case. I'm not as good at reading him as you are, but that one was easy to understand. I told him he could just call me whenever. I didn't get a response on that thought, but I think he heard me and understood. I'll do my best to stick around him as much as I can, it seems to help.

C'ya

Rin

* * *

 **I don't know about you, but I have no trouble imagining Haru taking forever just to piss Rin off.**


	29. Day 17 (Makoto - Rin)

Hey Rin

I am glad to hear things are going well at your end. You know, I thought Haru did buy more swimsuits not so long ago. I'm surprised he is already in need of more. But then again, as much as he swims it really should not be such a big deal. I do go shopping with him from time to time. I honestly do not think he takes that long. Maybe he was taking longer on purpose to test you.

I will not say I am glad that Haru is lonely because that is not it. I am glad that we now know for sure that loneliness is what is bothering him.

Let me guess though, what you and Haru got for lunch was grilled mackerel? It would surprise me if the answer is different.

Here things are going well, we have relaxed all day and I managed to study some and then we spent two hours waiting at a restaurant. My patience was tested. I have no doubt you would have lost it after only half an hour.

Anyways, best of luck with sticking around Haru until I get back. Hopefully you manage to build a stronger friendship. I hope so. He needs others whom he can be close to.

See you.

Makoto


	30. Day 18

Dear Haru

Today we left Lovina. Originally we had booked another night but when we learned it was a three hour long drive to Padanbai we decided to quit one night because we had to be at Padanbai at 9 in the morning. Nobody was really up for that idea.

Our parents had found the driver yesterday. We had originally thought it would be more difficult since this time around there is a holiday here on Bali. It said that most Balinese people spent the time with their families these days.

To our surprise, the driver we had got spoke almost perfectly Japanese and we were all able to communicate with him. Ren and Ran did not do it much, but I spoke a bit more than usual. He had another job besides driving. In his daily life he was a teacher in both Japanese and English and we learned that a lot of Balinese people actually speak Japanese (or at least a lot more than we thought). Once we stopped by a temple and our driver went in to pray quickly. It did not take him long. He returned with rice on his face.

When we arrived at Padangbai there was not really much to speak of. I shared a room with Ren and Ran again since there was only one huge bed in both rooms. There was also a bathtub that was longer than the others we have seen so far. I tried filling it up but I think there is a hole somewhere because, even if the plug was in, the water still kept flowing out from somewhere. The level continuously dropped, and to make matters worse, the shower was too short for me. I had to sit while washing.

We can hear the ships come and go from the harbor that is only a five to ten minute walk away. It is way closer than the three hours we drove today. Tomorrow we are going to the Gili islands to spend a few days there. That is going to be really relaxing.

I got a mail from Rin yesterday. Is it true you took that long looking at swimsuits? I hope you have a reason for it and did not just do it because it was Rin and not I who went with you. It is a bit childish you know.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **I don't know if the driver spoke well Japanese, but I assume he did since he taught the language. I don't speak it though. We spoke to him about the fact that I was going to try to learn Japanese and he said it takes three years or so, if you are serious about it. If you're not it can take three times as long. So I decided to be serious about my self-studying project based on what he said.**

 **Also, no lie about the bath. I had sparkle-like eyes when I saw it first (to think that they had made a long bathtub) but I was super disappointed. At least the pool was fine.**

 **Jackie**


	31. Day 18 (Nagisa - Makoto)

Hey Mako-chan!

So here's latest gossip from the Iwatobi Swim Club!

So Rei-chan and I went to town yesterday just cuz, you know? And guess who we saw walking together? Rin-chan and Haru-chan! And what's better, Haru-chan looked normal! Well, Haru-chan isn't that normal with his lack of facial expressions but you get what I mean right?

Anyways, Rei-chan and I started discussing. Rei-chan believed Rin-chan was just helping us make Haru-chan feel less lonely but I believe… you know? I believe they were actually on a date *giggle* I talked it over with Gou-chan today, to see what she thought of it, and she believes I'm right! Though she hesitated a bit before giving her answer.

Anyways, how are you Mako-chan, have something fun happened yet? Have you seen a penguin? I know you said they were not on Bali but I bet you haven't seen all of it. It's gotta be big!

I beat my personal record today at practice. Gou-chan said so. And Rin-chan was here today to race Haru-chan and afterwards they left together. I asked Rei-chan if he still thought they weren't dating and he said yes, I still believe they are though.

That's all I have for now. More gossip next time.

Have fun!

Nagisa *laughing smiley*


	32. Day 18 (Makoto - Nagisa)

Dear Nagisa

Thanks for the gossip stories. I'll admit I laughed a bit while reading them. I hate to burst your bubble though. Rin is spending time with Haru because I asked him to do it. It seems to help so you are going to see a lot of him until I come back. I admit though, it could be an interesting development if they started dating afterwards, yet I doubt they would. None of them are that kind of guy.

I have yet to see a penguin but I highly doubt they are here. Bali is actually not that big. It is just really popular for tourists. In fact, compared to most of the islands in Indonesia I find it relatively small. We are going to hopefully see some sea turtles soon though. If you want, I can ask if I may take a picture.

I am glad to hear you have improved at your swimming. I am guessing it is the breaststroke you improved at. We are going to go snorkeling later too. I will be in need of my own skills at the breaststroke then. It has been some time since I used it though. It is going to be fun to see how I do.

I look forward to the next update on the gossip.

See you.

Makoto

Ps. Do not worry, I am not telling Haru about your assumptions of him and Rin dating. I doubt either of them would be pleased.


	33. Day 19

Dear Haru

So today we got up a bit early. We had breakfast at the hotel and were able to head out within about an hour. As I mentioned in the last letter there is not far to the boat. It is called Gili Fast Boat. It is called so because it is the fastest boat. There is also a slow boat, but it is for cars. The fast boat is for tourists like us. Originally we had wanted to travel with the slower boat because we had heard it was for the more local ones, but we were told it was not possible.

My father was afraid to get seasick. So was Ren. Mother stayed with them upstairs where the air would come more easily due to the speed. Ran did not like climbing the stairs up to the top deck so I stayed downstairs with her.

The waves went really high once we started sailing. Every time the boat would cut through one, the water would splash high, up onto the top deck. The windows at the downstairs deck looked like it was raining outside. If it were not for the blue sky, I think both Ran and I would have believed it was raining.

Since there are no cars on the island Gili Travangang we had to walk all the way to the hotel, which was at the northern part of the island, a little outside the only town. I think it would actually only be classified as a village if you asked a geography teacher, but there is no such teacher here. The only form for transportation they have except our own feet and legs are the carts driven by horses. There is a relaxing sense to this place that I like a lot.

We arrived at the hotel and Ren, Ran and I are sharing a room again. We have sleeping spots for four people, two large beds. Ren and Ran were arguing again about who would sleep with me. How come I am this popular between the two anyway? I ended up saying that if it was like that, then I would sleep alone and they could sleep together but both ended up complaining even worse than before. I do not get that! To make peace we decided that we would take turns sleeping alone. Tonight I am sleeping with Ran.

The island is amazing. It is relatively small and there are hotels everywhere, and most hotels have a pool out front. No matter where you look, you can see water. I am betting you are just fine with the pool at the school though.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **I don't think I ever really explained exactly how far they (I) lived from town. The hotel was at the northern end of the east side of the island. The island (to those of you who don't know) is so small that it would only take about two hours at max to walk around it or something like that. The town was on the east side as well.**

 **This is all for today. no e-mails.**

 **Jackie**


	34. Day 20

Dear Haru

We slept in today and went to have breakfast. They had a lot of things for us to choose from. Not as many as in Nusa Dua (I doubt I will ever forget that…) But it was fine. It was all still kept in that relaxing pace that I also sensed yesterday.

We would do just about nothing special at all today. There was nothing we had to do, everything was of our own choice.

We wanted to go into town, because we live a little outside, I did tell you that I think. We went, but did not come far before we saw a kindergarten for sea-turtles. We all took interest in looking at the small turtle babies. Apparently they are kept in these kindergartens for the first one and half a month of their lives to ensure their survival. There were some newly born ones who just hatched from their eggs last night. We were not allowed to touch them though.

There was a sign saying so right in front of the turtles. Ran reached down to touch a turtle anyway and actually managed. I had to stop her though, before anyone saw it and informed her of what the sign said. I am not good at English, I think I have made that point clear by now, but at least I am better at this than Ran and could therefore tell her what the sign said. We could watch the sea-turtles, but we were not allowed to touch them at all.

We went and stayed on the beach for a bit and then just went back to our hotel rooms. At night we went to watch the sunset on the west-side of the island. It was a beautiful sight but I think we found the wrong way across the island. We walked through fields and came through extremely local, slum-like areas.

On our way back we found a cart that is also being used as a taxi. The man owning the taxi would not let all of us ride it though. He would only take four of us, so I decided to walk half the way around the island while the rest drove in the taxi. We agreed to meet up at the hotel.

I walked, the ground was a bit uneven at places, but it was better than it had been to walk across the island, and at that time especially since it was getting dark. When I met up with the others again we went out to have dinner. The restaurant we chose was not the best and a little expensive, but they had a pregnant cat to keep us entertained while we waited. That is about the only benefit I can think of.

I have not heard a word from Rin or Nagisa today and yesterday. How are you all? I am getting a bit worried now. What about you Haru, are you doing okay?

Tonight I sleep with Ren to keep both twins at peace.

See you.

Makoto


	35. Day 21

Dear Haru

We are still keeping things at the slow, relaxing pace that seems to be common for this island. We went and borrowed flippers and facemasks and everything else you would need for snorkeling. We went out to look at corals. Unfortunately we could only go three at a time. Father, Ren and I went out together while mother and Ran stayed on the beach to watch for our belongings.

We managed to see a lot of corals and especially fish. There were a lot of interesting ones and it was very unusual to see all this. The water was warm though, almost the same temperature as the air, not cold at all.

After us, mother and Ran went out. Father had to help them get it all on and ended up swimming with them out there. Once they returned, Ren wanted to go out again, so did Ran and I decided to swim out with them this time. That was also fun, having the two of them out, but I was on my own watching out for them. I know it should be safe, but I still worried a bit about them.

My parents are talking about renting a boat with a bottom of glass to come out and see something different than what you can just see from shore. I feel a bit uneasy about that idea, but I am sure there is nothing to worry about.

We found a nice place to eat at tonight. The food was good and it was way cheaper than the other place we were at yesterday. After that, we went back to the hotel and actually, went to bed shortly after that.

I am guessing today was not the most eventful one, but I think that is how it is here on this island.

Now that I think about it, I have heard this was called the Party Island, though I still have yet to see or hear any sound of a party anywhere. Maybe it is because we live a bit far from town considering the size of the island, but I thought it would be easier to hear the party.

Anyway, I plan on going out to watch the sunrise tomorrow so I will go to sleep now if I have to catch enough of that. Despite we are relaxing all day, it is still somewhat exhausting, believe it or not.

I hope you are still doing okay. There will be about another week until I am back home.

See you then.

Makoto

* * *

 **It's incredible. It was so nice and warm down there. I could wonder around in nothing but bikini, shorts and a top and pretend cold weather didn't even exist, and now here I am in the middle of November, with a cup of hot tea with honey, a sore throat and a scarf wrapped around my neck and cold feet. Reading about all this makes me want to go back.**

 **As mentioned, we're nearing the end. Even if there hasn't been much response on the story, I still enjoyed doing this and I'm very surprised at how many actually read it. It makes me happy to see.**

 **Thanks a lot.**

 **Jackie**


	36. Day 21 (Rin - Makoto)

Hey Makoto

Here's latest news. So I was called up this morning by none other than Nagisa, telling me to get to Iwatobi at once because my help was needed. So I went, and when I get outside, I realize that it is raining, and not just that typical, normal rain, but a heavy rain that feels like you might as well stand under a waterfall. Nobody said anything about it ever raining this hard in the first place.

When I finally arrive, it turns out Nagisa and Rei are trying to cover up the pool to protect it against the rain while Haru was swimming in it. (That guy is hopeless…) Anyway, I have to strip down to nothing and go into the water and force him up because there was no way we could contact him. Then finally the other two manages to cover the pool.

Afterwards Nagisa suggested that I went home with Haru, and since I had nothing better to do, it seemed like a fine idea, also because he lives closer than I do. It wasn't cold rain, but having to pull on wet clothes is not fun so I hoped I could lend some of his.

I could, and we watched movies and had some food together. Pineapple mackerel. Whoever came up with that thing anyway? It is eatable, but I have eaten better meals on many occasions. Apparently more than 50% of the movies Haru is keeping are documentaries with water-related stuff like fish, for most part actually. The other movies he has are outdated and not really that good.

I can't wait until you get back and can take over. I never thought spending this much time with Haru would be so exhausting.

And while you're at it, what's with Nagisa, he is giggling like an idiot whenever I interact with Haru and Rei is just glaring at him for who knows what reason. I suspect he is thinking of something weird. Do you know what it is?

It's all just creepy…

C'ya

Rin


	37. Day 21 (Makoto - Rin)

Hey Rin

Sounds like you have had a rough day. I cannot remember the last time I saw rain. Somehow the idea seems nice though. I guess I miss it a bit.

You know, we actually have a net in the club room for occasions like that. Gou makes sure to keep it around all the time, since our first day, after opening the pool, we have always kept one in case. The others use it from time to time to get Haru out of the pool, I personally do not like the idea very much, he is a human after all, not a fish, even if he seems like that most of the time when he is in the water.

Pineapple mackerel is, as far as I know, of Haru's own creation from… who knows when, the first time I saw it was at the island when we went on training camp, all we had was pizza with pineapple and then Haru brought mackerel. Both seems to be something he likes and I guess he just thought it would be nice to try a mix of the two. Since he continues to make it, I suppose he likes it.

Haru also seems to enjoy watching the water on TV, which is why he keeps all the documentaries. I think the other movies belong to his parents. Though as far as I know, nobody in the family really watches movies. I am not even sure what Haru does in his spare time.

When it comes to Nagisa, yeah he told me exactly what he is thinking, but I promised him I would not tell anything. I did not mention you specifically but you will probably have a worse reaction to it than Haru, so it is impossible for me to tell you anything due to that promise. I am very sorry about that, Rin.

Please try to survive until I get back. It will be another week until then. Do not worry, I doubt Haru is that bad. He cannot continue to cause so much trouble all the time. The summer break just started did it not? Try to spend the days with him until I come back and see what happens. Stay strong Rin, you can do it, I have faith in you.

Best of luck

Makoto


	38. Day 22

Dear Haru

Today we climbed another mountain. I wish I could say that, though, more accurately, it was a hill rather than a mountain. It was the top point of the island, about 70 – 100 m above water surface. It was not hard to climb at all, but the sun was hard on us and we had to turn around once we found out we had found the wrong path up the hill. It led to another building about half way up. Ren and Ran were both exhausted and we were almost out of water so we went back down and returned to the hotel.

Now, I started in the middle of everything. Actually, my day started out by me getting up around 6 in the morning, because that is when the sun raises. I went down by the beach as quietly as possible as not to disturb anyone. They say the sunrise should be a beautiful sight. That is why I went. I sat on one of the chairs, it was still fairly cold, but then mother came and sat with me. We were also accompanied by a cat that fell asleep in my lap. It made me miss that cat I use to say "hi" to in the morning while waiting for you, that little white one. This one refused to get off me once we had to leave. Mother had to pick it off me and keep it away until I got back on my feet. It really got attached to me. It was cute actually.

It was later on that day we went up the hill and after buying some water, we went back to the hotel and spent some time in the pool out front. Apparently everyone in my family had a stroke they wanted me to teach them. So I taught everyone some swimming today.

We went out in town later and have now got a time for a boat with a glass bottom tomorrow and snorkeling equipment is rented by the same people. So the plans for tomorrow are set.

We ended up having dinner at the same restaurant as yesterday, again it was a good experience to have at that place.

Now I better stop writing. Ran is going to tell us a story and demands our attention. I am sharing a bed with Ren tonight, to make things fair. I do not know what the plans are about that for tomorrow, but we will see what happens.

See you.

Makoto


	39. Day 22 (Rin - Makoto)

Hey Makoto

Why don't any of the things you told me surprise me? Haru is the type who would come up with something like pineapple mackerel and I don't doubt that Gou would be keeping a net somewhere, Nagisa is probably in on that idea, I bet he's using it a lot too while you're not here.

Well, I better get started on what you really want to know about. I did as you said and decided to spend today with Haru as well. I had to call someone on ideas of what to do though, so I ended up calling Gou, and she put Nagisa on the phone, what are those two doing together anyway? That aside, Nagisa suggested that I treated Haru for something, since he has made food for me twice already, and suggested that I took him out for eating when I said that I don't have anywhere to cook stuff.

So, I ended up taking Haru to a restaurant. It was not bad at all, we spent lots of time just talking, and even a while in silence without it being awkward or anything. I guess one would say we enjoyed each other's company. Though, the whole time I couldn't get this nagging feeling off that someone was watching us from behind. I really felt uneasy. I guess Haru felt it too because we kept exchanging looks whenever I sensed something, and whenever he sensed something too I suppose.

On our way back from eating at that restaurant I saw a poster for a triathlon held in the next town. I therefore decided that Haru and I would go there tomorrow and I signed both of us up for it, I did ask Haru before doing it though. So the idea goes, that we meet up at the starting point tomorrow and try to pull through together, since it might be a bit tough on Haru, and then we have lunch once we are done (it starts early in the morning so we should be done by then) and then we stay at Haru's place for the night.

Don't worry, I will survive taking care of Haru. I consider it a challenge anyway. I hope to beat him tomorrow too, that's the challenge that is not so far away. I look forward to seeing it.

I know you promised Nagisa stuff, but won't you tell me what in the world is going on here?

C'ya.

Rin


	40. Day 22 (Makoto - Rin)

Hey Rin

That with the net might be true, though I hope it is not. As I said, Haru is a person, he should not be treated like a fish even if he acts like one. It is not right!

That Idea with someone watching the two of you today sounds really scary actually. I do not like it one bit. But I am glad I was not there. I would have freaked out by the second and been extremely nervous about the whole situation. I hope you guys are okay.

That triathlon sounds like fun. I am sure you will both enjoy it, and enjoy competing against each other. Haru always goes into your competitions with all his might and full strength and will. I only wish I could watch that. I have not seen you compete in running since elementary school, before you moved to Australia, and I have never seen you compete on bicycle. Thinking about elementary school I think I should warn you about Haru's words from then. "I will leave you behind if you chatter". That is what I think he used to say. He still does actually.

Maybe you should challenge Haru some more. The energy that comes from that is good to both of you, and it gives me the impression that those things especially are what keep you together as friends. You really are rivals.

Best of luck tomorrow, and tell Haru I wish him good luck too.

See you.

Makoto


	41. Day 22 (Nagisa - Makoto)

Hi Mako-chan *Happy smiley*

So, It's time for more gossip!

Today I spent most of the time with Gou-chan and Rei-chan. We were at Gou-chan's place and just agreed that Haru-chan and Rin-chan should somehow get out on a date somewhere and be seen together in public. I know they won't consider it a date but still, by the way, we have convinced Gou-chan to go along with our ideas.

So anyway, luck was on our side seeing as Rin-chan called this morning to ask for ideas to what he could do today with Haru-chan. I then told him what to do. Don't ask me what phone he called. Gou-chan just handed it to me after speaking to Rin-chan for a matter of seconds, telling me that I should say it. So I advised for them to go to a restaurant that I know is cheap and close to where we were at that time.

We went there as soon as possible, because we didn't know when Haru-chan and Rin-chan would get there. They showed up five minutes before one. If they had been going on a date, they would have made their girl happy. That's what Gou-chan said. We had been betting on whether it would be Rin-chan or Haru-chan who would be late. I said Rin-chan, Gou said Haru-chan, but both lost our bets. *sad smiley*

We spied on them and I took some great pictures of them while they were eating. Rei-chan was worried that they were aware of our presence, but I doubt that. Rei-chan just worries too much. I have attached the pictures to this e-mail if you want to see. *laughing smiley*

Well, I better go now, Rei-chan, Gou-chan and I have to plan what to do about tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Have fun!

Nagisa *laughing smiley*

[Photo][Photo] ( **If you want to see the photos, check the A/N)**

* * *

 **Go on tumblr and look under the Free! tag. Then you scroll down until you find a post by me with two drawn pictures. I wish I could link it, but I don't know how to do that. I have the same username so it should be easy to find me and I made it clear that the pictures are for this story. I hope you can find them if you're interested. Again I'm very sorry for not being able to link to them.**

 **Jackie**


	42. Day 22 (Makoto - Nagisa)

Dear Nagisa

I doubt that is the best idea you have got. I just read Rin's mail, he send me one today too. He said that he did sense your presence, though I did not think Gou would let herself get dragged into that mess, or Rei for that matter. But who am I to judge.

I am not that surprised that Rin and Haru showed up at that time. It is normal for Haru to be late for things like school because he is in the bathtub so much, but since it was a little past noon, I do not find it that strange that he showed up on time. Neither do I find it strange on Rin's part. He has always been good with manners and what to do and what not to do when dating a girl. I am actually considering asking him for advice when I get into the situation of dating a girl myself.

It is really sneaky of you to be able to take those pictures though. They are of good quality and they are great close-ups. One would have thought you sat by the table with them if they did not know better.

For the future, I do not think it is the best idea to spy on Rin and Haru, and I would be careful about calling their get-togethers a date. If they were to catch unto that, I doubt they would be happy either.

Do you know what they are doing tomorrow too, for how long did you guys spy on them anyway? I sure hope you are not going to ruin everything, not only for Rin and Haru, but for everyone else as well. I am really worried. Please do not get yourself or others into trouble.

Well, best of luck anyway, and please do be careful about whatever you do.

See you.

Makoto


	43. Day 23

Dear Haru

Last night was about the scariest night I had had in a while. I think I mentioned Ran wanted to tell us a story, so she did. She picked the scariest story she could come up with. I had to pretend it didn't bother me, but in truth both Ren and I were shivering in fear. Ran even managed to scare herself half to death too and I had to go and check the toilet to see if there was a monster or something out there and then go switch on the light. We slept with the lights on that night.

Today we went out with that boat and went snorkeling for a bit, a little further out. We had only booked for two hours to make sure we would not risk getting sunburn. It was fun seeing something different. We even saw a sunken ship. We could not get down by it though, since it was too far down and we have to stay in the surface in order to still be able to breath. I got up a bit before the others because I was feeling a little uneasy and spent way too much time worrying about everyone else.

We went to another place where it would be possible to see a sea turtle. We did not expect to jump right down into the head of one of them though. One of the guides showed it to us and even touched it. Ren and Ran declared that they wanted to touch it too, but I highly doubt it is allowed to do, even when they swim freely in the ocean.

After being there, we returned back to shore because our two hours were almost up. I thought they had gone by fast. We went to take another look at town and bought juice at a nice place where they mixed all kinds of fruits. It really had that flavor to them too.

We had dinner at the same place again tonight. It really is a good restaurant, and we celebrated our last day on this island. It is hard to believe it is already over.

I think I was to wish you good luck at the triathlon you and Rin have been participating in today. I know it is a little late. So, good luck with that, and do your best

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **What happened that night Makoto refers to is a bit different. The older of my younger sisters (K-chan for now) and I both know of the game Five Nights at Freddy's and when we learned that we were to stay on Gili island for five nights in total I immediately had associations to the game. So for fun, I joked a bit about that the first couple of days we were there and then on this particular night we heard strange sounds. the younger of my sisters (M-chan) asked if there and I (stupid as I was) said it was the monster under the bed, resulting in me and M-chan not being brave enough to stand up and check the bathroom once we heard a sound from the toilet. K-chan had to do that and turn on the light.**

 **That really was a scary night.**

 **Jackie**


	44. Day 23 (Rin - Makoto)

Hey Makoto

Do we really bound through stuff like that? I didn't even notice that and I thought I knew everything about my rivalry with Haru, hah, turns out I was wrong.

Well, anyway, so Haru and I went for that triathlon. We agreed to meet up half an hour before time as we could warm up and get ourselves ready. I arrived five minutes before our planned to meet and it turns out he was already there! What's with that? He even said I was five minutes late! I wonder where that came from or if he had misunderstood something, but I left it alone for the time being.

We warmed up and started on the thing. There were about 50 others who were competing in this but we didn't get bothered by them. We challenged each other as best as we could. I'm surprised that Haru was able to keep up, both the running part and the bicycle part. I didn't hold back on him. I have learned my lesson about that. At the swimming we were both running pretty low on energy but we did have the stamina to complete it and still compete a bit. We completed in the exact same time and went to have our lunches.

We had left them in the backpacks we had brought and went to get them, but it turned out Haru didn't bring any. He said it went missing, but I don't believe him for a second, he didn't even bring chopsticks. Out of pity and much to both our dismay, I shared my lunch with him and we even had to share my chopsticks. Whoever is setting this up must've got a kick out of watching us.

Now we are at Haru's place and have just washed up from dinner. We are about to watch a movie that I brought over because I wanted to teach him something about what normal people watch. I picked something involving a lot of water though, to make it easier for him to adjust to. I'm sure you approve.

Now Haru discovered that I'm writing this and he asked me to say hi from him and tell you thanks for all the letters. He asks if you have a good sense of the water down there. I hope you get that, cause I sure don't.

C'ya

Rin


	45. Day 23 (Makoto - Rin)

Hey Rin

I am not really sure I get the being late thing either, but if Haru says you're late then I guess there is something to it, maybe he had expected you to arrive in the same time as him or something.

It sounds like you were having a lot of fun during that. I sure hope it was. I have never participated in a triathlon myself so I am not sure how much I know of it. You should tell me when another one comes up nearby as I can try participating in it. Maybe you and Haru could both join me if you want.

Haru is not one to forget, I thought you knew that by now. He has only forgotten to bring lunch a few times, the last one was in middle school because he did not know that we had to bring lunch. I wonder how things went missing though. But I am glad you were able to share. I hope you both had enough to eat despite sharing one lunch. I am afraid I worry too much now.

It sounds interesting with the movie. Which one did you end up picking? There are only so many movies involving water and an even fewer number are romantic. I assume that is the genre you watch the most of.

Tell Haru hi from me too. It is nice to know he actually reads my letters. I was afraid he might not. It is basically just me blabbering about everything and anything that come into mind for each passing day. I really hope he at least find them a bit exciting.

I really hope no more weird things will happen to the two of you. It is really worrying.

Take care

Makoto


	46. Day 23 (Makoto - Nagisa)

Dear Nagisa

I am not sure of what you and Gou have been up to but Rin does not seem to like whatever you are doing and you should really start thinking about your actions. Taking someone's bento is not a good idea to begin with, I am afraid Rin and Haru did not have enough food to compensate for all the energy they used up. What did you even do with Haru's mackerel anyway?

I am also wondering what you are planning next. Please do not take things too far. It could get bad, not only for you, but also for Rin's and Haru's friendship.

If you are doing this just to have something to send me I really do appreciate it, but I would rather you just send me information of events that you do not force upon others.

We will have a serious conversation about this once I return.

See you.

Makoto


	47. Day 24

Dear Haru

Today we left the Gili islands. We made it to the office of those arranging for the boat and got our tickets, but then we were informed the boat would be late. We had been out of the hotel since noon and the boat did not show until two in the afternoon.

We met a cat just before we left. I think it liked me. Well, all the cats seem to like me down here. The cat kept on sticking around me until it was time to board the boat and I had to leave me. It had a strange looking eye. I think that eye was blind. If that is the case, I really feel sorry for that little guy.

The ride on the boat was outright terrible. The waves went high and we were swaying from side to side. Even Ren and Ran got seasick, and even I did not feel so good. Again, Ran and I stayed downstairs while Ren and our parents were upstairs, but eventually Ren came down because he needed to use the toilet and then stayed with me and Ran. Ran was asleep at that time so I sat with Ren and made sure none of the two got so sick that they would puke or something.

It seemed to take longer to get back to Bali than away from the island because we were really not feeling good. We could not get off the boat fast enough and it felt so good to be back on somewhat solid ground.

The guy, who picked us up in Padanbai and had to drive us to Kuta, was already there, waiting for us. We had the car packed and drove off. We were certainly not feeling good about this. Our driver was driving a little too fast and a bit alternatively, and because of traffic we were slightly delayed. We only wished we could get out of that car, the sooner the better.

When we got to the hotel it was a bit late, and we were all tired. We thought we had booked for five people, but the rooms we were led to only had four single beds, so we had to ask for them to prepare an extra bed for us while we went to get something to eat. If I recall correctly, my parents said that they had booked for five people, which meant an extra bed should have already been paid for.

There is nothing much to say about the rest. We returned to the hotel after a quick dinner and went directly to bed. I should be sleeping by now, but I found that I still had to write this for you before then. So now I think I will sleep.

Kuta is our last stop before we are going home, we are staying here for three nights and three days because we are excluding today.

I will see you soon.

Makoto


	48. Day 24 (Nagisa - Makoto)

Mako-chan *whining smiley*

You're way too worried all the time. It's no fun like that. We don't do this because we need something to send you, we do it to have our own kind of fun. What if it actually happened? What if Rin-chan and Haru-chan did start dating? Won't that be nice? Then you won't have to worry about Haru-chan being lonely ever again! *happy smiley*

It wasn't my idea to check their lunches by the way. That was Gou-chan's idea. Gou-chan wanted to see if they were healthy enough and with enough variation. She disliked Haru-chan's choice of lunch and found that Rin-chan's had a little much meat in it, so she took Rei-chan's lunch and put most of the vegetables over in Rin-chan's because, apparently they had brought the same for lunch, and we took Haru-chan's chopsticks because we were a pair of chopsticks short when buying lunch for me and Gou-chan later. Maybe it was a little planned, but I didn't plan on anything bad, everyone's still okay here! *grinning smiley*

We do have a plan of some sort for later, but since you don't seem to approve of our ideas, I am not gonna tell you, sorry Mako-chan. I don't want you to warn Rin-chan.

I also snatched Rin-chan's phone and looked through your e-mail exchange. That was fun. Rin-chan really is clueless about everything. *laughing smiley* I didn't think you would say nothing after all I had told you. Thanks a lot for that Mako-chan. *high-five*

Don't worry Mako-chan. We'll all be fine. If we succeed, Rin-chan and Haru-chan will be so grateful to us, *laughing smiley* If we fail though… I don't wanna think of Rin-chan's anger when he finds out. Gou-chan already came up with ideas of what Rin-chan would do once he found out about this. She also thinks that she's not gonna get hurt, but I doubt she will get off easy either.

No more gossip time though, that's sad, but maybe I will tell you about it after we have done it.

Have fun!

Nagisa *laughing smiley*


	49. Day 25

Dear Haru

Today we went to see a temple a little outside of Kuta (about half an hour by car I think). We had found a guy who was willing to give us a ride there and drive us back.

We were relatively confused when he asked us for how long we wanted to stay, we did not expect to stay there for too long and found it strange. A friend of my mother had been there with her husband a long time ago and had told us about it. My mom was there on a quest one could say. Her friend had accidentally lost the photos of the temple and therefore needed a replacement. When she heard we were going to Bali, she asked my mother to take some pictures for her. Anyway, she had said there was only the temple out there. Though when we reached it, this was far from the case.

When he dropped us off and we entered, we found the place covered with little stalls selling anything you could think up. Especially clothes and shoes was something they had a lot of. We walked past a show where they had animals outside. I think it was a coffee shop but I did not check. Some of the animals were those who are part of the production of that expensive coffee I told you about in an earlier letter. There were also two bats though. Of course there was a sign, warning us not to touch them. They were sleeping. I have never seen such a big bat so close before. That was a bit amazing. We touched one of those other animals too. It is actually soft to touch, but we had to be careful while touching it because there was a risk it would bite.

The temple itself was nothing much to speak of. It was relatively small, but when the water is high it is completely surrounded. That is why so many tourists come here.

We wanted to take some pictures and actually managed, but it was difficult to get them the way we wanted them because other tourists wanted to be on them too and then just stood. Some went and asked, but others just stood there, seeming like it was perfectly normal. I am not sure if it is in their culture, but it seems impolite to me.

We were held up a bit on the way back to the car too because we found a guy who had a huge snake and father figured that all of us should try and touch it. Ren, father and I all touched it with ease. It is a smooth creature and not slimy at all, like some girls think. Ran touched it too, after we convinced her it was not slimy, but mother refused completely. After spending some time there we returned to the car, and learned we had taken way over the hour we said we would take at max.

I am sorry. I think the letter got a bit long today. But now it really will not be too long before I return.

See you.

Makoto

* * *

 **It's true, about the snake. To those of you who don't know, it really isn't slimy at all. I used to have a couple of snakes until a few years ago, they're cold and smooth to tough. I think this detail should also be visible if you look at a picture of one. It doesn't look like something slimy.**

 **That's all for now. We're done with this in 2 days. Hope you've enjoyed it.**

 **Jackie**


	50. Day 26

Dear Haru

We spent today just in the area. We went to the beach because rumors had it there were some high waves down there. From our travel agency we also heard that it was a good place for surfing. I doubt we would be doing any of that in the near future, but it could be fun to see those gigantic waves.

I admit, they were certainly not kidding when talking about those waves. I was out in the water and to just put a picture of things; when there were no waves, the water surface was about the level of my navel or so. Some of the waves were high enough that I had to dodge my head under them. That idea took some time getting used to, but after that, the whole idea was actually fun. Father was with me, Ren and Ran out there, mother took care of our belongings back on the beach. We could not swim in the water though.

Eventually we grew hungry and went alongside the beach to find some place to eat at after packing up. On our way we passed a large sculpture of a turtle. It was even taller than me, perhaps two and half a meter or so. We learned it was a place where they hatched turtle babies.

We left the beach after eating something, but we returned later that same night to watch the sunset. Before we left completely though, Ran wanted to see the turtle once again and everyone went. When we looked down at the place where the eggs were, we could see some had just hatched and a turtle was crawling around in the sand. I do not think I have ever seen so newly born life, not even when I saw Ren and Ran for the first time. I took a picture on my phone. I will show it to you when I return to Japan. I know you will not have gotten this letter by that time, but I figure it is something you should see.

I am really starting to miss all of you guys here. It has been fun, but I admit, I am looking forward to coming back home. All this experiencing has been a lot. I think I will just stay back in Japan for a long while. Tomorrow is the last full day. We will leave tomorrow at midnight. I should be back some time in the afternoon Sunday.

See you then.

Makoto


	51. Day 26 (Rin - Makoto)

Hey Makoto

If you know the answer to one of these two questions, you better give me an answer. One: Who in the world is behind all the things that have happened this week? Two: What is Nagisa up to and what is wrong with him?

I understand you made promises but just look at what happened to me and Haru today.

The two of us were just hanging out when Nagisa called us, asking us if we wanted to meet up at the nearest playground. I don't even know why it would be a playground in the first place, but that's not the issue here. Haru and I went, but when we came, there were nobody around, the place was completely deserted. I admit we were out late, but still weird. One would think Nagisa would be there at least.

Haru and I then start discussing what is going on, Haru blames me for things going wrong and I blame him. (Okay maybe I started it but so what?) Next thing I know is that we are standing with our faces close to each other and we are screaming into the other's face until someone comes running from behind me, screaming my name (with that addition of –chan, you should figure who by then) and somehow, Haru fall back, landing on his back and with me on top and we… Yeah, our lips were against each other. So much for saving the first kiss for the right one.

After that I told Nagisa to get off and so he did. Gou and Rei were there too by then and they looked shocked to say the least, I'm not one to blame them though, I'm shocked too. I didn't expect my first kiss to be with a guy, Haru of all people, and it being witnessed by friends. For some reason though, Nagisa was beaming with an overly happy expression the rest of the evening.

For your information, I am at Haru's place tonight too and we are both in need of an answer to this question. If you know anything, then spill it out now or we have both agreed not to talk to you for a month!

Rin


	52. Day 26 (Makoto - Rin)

Hey Rin

Please, do not say that!

I will tell everything I know, I will tell the entire story of what has been going on lately. I know everything. I know it all. I have been informed of everything that has happened and just did not want to tell you because I knew how you would react about it. I am sorry for not telling you of all this sooner.

It was Nagisa all along. Sure Rei and Gou have been involved, but Gou was not involved in the beginning and I doubt Rei was in on it willingly. At least do not hold him responsible about it.

Nagisa happened to see the two of you together while you were out buying swimsuits and jumped to the conclusion that the two of you were dating, or were about to start something. As you may recall, he was the one suggesting the idea with the restaurant, he, Rei and Gou had gone there to spy on the two of you, that was why you sensed someone watching you.

For the triathlon they were also there. Gou checked your lunches and trashed Haru's mackerel and mixed some of Rei's lunch with yours since you brought the same. They stole Haru's chopsticks because they were short a pair.

I did warn Nagisa that he should not try anything stupid. I did it two days ago after reading your e-mail about what had happened at the triathlon. I think I could sense that something was coming. I had not expected this though. I am positive he was also behind what happened today, that it was all planned out carefully. Nagisa is not dumb, far from it, it would not surprise anyone if he had planned even more stuff.

Please keep on talking to me. Both of you please do! I do not want to lose my friends! I never wished for that and I am so sorry for keeping it all a secret!

See you.

Makoto


	53. Day 26 (Texts)

**21:14 Haru:** Rin was joking

 **21:15 Makoto:** About what?

 **21:16 Haru:** This is not worth stopping talking to you over.

 **21:16 Makoto:** Thank goodness. I was worried you would stop.

 **21:21 Makoto:** Hold on. You actually texted me?

* * *

 **This is way too short but... What's Haru doing here? Honestly, I thought it would be OOC for him not to react.**


	54. Day 27 (Texts)

**18:19 Nagisa:** Mako-chan! Why did you have to tell Rin-chan about everything? I thought you promised not to do it.

 **18:20 Makoto:** He said that both he and Haru would stop talking to me if I did not say anything, besides, you went too far when you forced them to kiss.

 **18:20 Nagisa:** That's harsh, Mako-chan *whiny smiley*

 **18:21 Makoto:** Sorry…

 **18:22 Nagisa:** But Rin-chan's going to kill me now!

 **18:22 Makoto:** Is he?

 **18:23 Nagisa:** Yes! *panicked smiley* Please hurry back and stop him!

 **18:23 Makoto:** I am very sorry! I will do my best to get back as fast as possible

* * *

 **18:24 Makoto:** Rin, do not actually kill Nagisa.

 **18:26 Rin:** Don't worry, killing him would be letting him get off easy. I'm sending him to hell on earth.

 **18:27 Makoto:** What do you mean by that?

 **18:28 Rin:** Still figuring, He doesn't seem to have a weakness.

 **18:28 Makoto:** I do not know any weaknesses of his…

 **18:29 Rin:** Come on, help me think here. Is there anything he can't live without?

 **18:32 Makoto:** He eats a lot of unhealthy food. Especially for lunch.

 **18:33 Rin:** Don't his parents make him something healthy?

 **18:33 Makoto:** He usually eats a so called "rock" and "Hopping" bread you can get at our school.

 **18:34 Rin:** Could we prevent him from getting that?

 **18:35 Makoto:** I am not taking part in it, but if you ask Haru, he just might agree to help.

 **18:37 Rin:** I will, thanks for the advice. No "rock" and "hopping" bread or any other kind of unhealthy food for the next two months, and if he doesn't score a top grade on the next test in a subject that is not his best, it will be another month.

 **18:38 Makoto:** Do not be too tough on him.

 **18:39 Rin:** You can't be too tough on him in this case.

 **18:40 Makoto:** …


	55. Day 27

Dear Haru

Today has been our very last day on Bali. Our last impression of this island was just like our impression had been any other day. At breakfast there were more tourists than usual. I think most of them were Indonesian or Chinese. The restaurant was all booked up. We were lucky to get a table and we were even luckier to get food. It did not take long after they filled the box with fried rice until it was all empty again. You had to be quick if you did not want to starve.

We checked out of the hotel shortly after as they could clean the rooms, though we left all our lockage there while we went around town to pass the time here. We found a huge shopping center, I think it was primarily for tourists, and went in to take a look at everything they had. I bought the last gifts for everyone, Nagisa asked me to bring back something for him so I figured I should bring something back, not just for him, but for everyone.

We had dinner at the restaurant belonging to the hotel because we had arranged for a ride around 9:30 that same night. The problem was that our ride never showed up, perhaps because of traffic. Since today was the last day of the holiday so a road was blocked and everyone had to take a detour. Once we finally got a taxi (had to sit four on the back seat) we experienced the same kind of trouble, and all the way out of Kuta we were just holding behind cars, rolling slowly.

I remember seeing an Indonesian boy knocking on our window. At first I thought he wanted to say hi or something, but I found it a bit unusual. It was only after our driver explained that he was asking for money that I realized what he wanted and I started feeling sorry for him. I knew I was not supposed to, but I wanted to give him some money. Father said it was a bad idea though.

I am writing this letter while we are driving the last bit of the way to the airport in Denpasar. The traffic has cleared and we will hopefully get out of this car soon. I will mail it as soon as possible.

I will be home tomorrow, but I doubt I will be up for seeing anybody then, so I will see you the day after tomorrow. I look so much forward to it. Being with my family for a month has been a lot of fun, but being away from all my friends has been a bit tough.

I will see you very soon.

Makoto

* * *

 **I'm done for now, and will keep this short since I highly doubt anyone will read this anyway.**

 **I'd like to thank everyone who read this story and give out a special thank you to Neko Female Len and NoOneKnowsThisAboutMe who both favorited, and another thanks to NoOneKnowsThisAboutMe and lumiere du soliel for both following the story. That means a lot. Thank you for the support.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the story. Please do leave a review below and tell me what you think of it now that it's all over. That would mean a lot to me.**

 **That's all for now. Hope you'll read some of my other stories.**

 **Jackie**


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